Durham Tourism
Industry
Report
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Connecting, engaging and informing Durham Tourism's valued stakeholders
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The scenic view from Bistro '67, Whitby.
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Greetings from Durham Tourism
There’s a great quote by poet Ralph Waldo Emmerson: “Live in the sunshine. Swim in the sea. Drink in the wild air.” Replace “sea” with “lake” and this certainly applies to summer in Durham Region! It’s been a superb summer so far, and we’re happy to share lots of great news with you this month, from Culture Days updates, to accolades and milestones for many of our stakeholders, and so much more!
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Tourism Industry Highlights
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Post it, tag it, share it
Got an event to share? Remember to submit your summer (and fall, and winter) events to our free, online
events calendar. Not only will your event receive some prime real estate on our calendar, it could also be shared via social media and with our web page subscribers! Don't have an account yet? Sign up on the
Durham Tourism website.
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A bountiful summer for Durham College's Centre for Food
Durham College’s W. Galen Weston Centre for Food, the Pantry and Bistro ’67 have had an amazing summer this far.
The Pantry’s
DC Pantry bag has been a huge success–in fact most weeks it has sold out! This Community-supported Agriculture (CSA) program connects the producer and consumers by allowing the consumer to subscribe to the harvest of the W. Galen Weston Centre for Food (CFF) gardens. Each bag is built and packaged upon arrival in a branded tote that is re-used throughout the program. The cost per week of the products is $25, and there is a one-time fee of $5 for the branded bag. You need to bring this back every week you order! “We’ve had a huge response to this program,” says Kelly O’Brien, General Manager, Centre for Food. “We are planning to boost production next season based on the success of the DC Pantry CSA program.” The program continues to October.
Meanwhile, Bistro ’67, which offers guests a field-to-fork dining experience, was recently named one of the
100 Most Scenic Restaurants in Canada for 2019 by OpenTable, a leading provider of online restaurant reservations. More than 500,000 Open Table Diners cast their vote for Bistro ’67–the only restaurant in Durham Region to make the list, and one of just 42 restaurants in Ontario to be selected. Congratulations! More exciting events and initiatives are planned for this fall.
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Culture Days news: culture hubs, pay-what-you-can, available resources and more!
The 10th anniversary of Culture Days is just over a month away! If you haven’t registered your event yet, head over to the
Culture Days website and submit your event or link with another to form a culture hub!
Culture hubs are centralized, walkable locations where attendees can access several linked activities and experiences happening over the Culture Days weekend. Through the hub registration system, individual events can be linked to one another to form a hub with its own page. Events can be grouped geographically or thematically. Check out the
Perry Street hub in Port Perry.
Culture Days has updated its free admission policy to include a “Pay-What-You-May" (PWYM) option for entry to Culture Days events. This upholds Culture Days commitment to free admission to reduce barriers to access, but recognizes that producing a Culture Days event incurs expenses. Culture Days events are still mandated to have free entry; however, event organizers can now publicly list that they accept optional PWYM donations for admission at events.
Remember to tag
@DurhamTourism to have your event shared; and
@ONCultureDays to share your Culture Days event, stories of the creative process, what getting hands-on means to you, and how you think arts, culture, and heritage have shaped the places you have lived or visited. Culture Days plans to repost stories on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you don’t have accounts on those platforms, send them your story through
info@culturedays.ca.
Customizable versions of the event posters, templates and the Culture Days' Metropolis font can be accessed through your Dashboard by signing in to your Culture Days account.
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York-Durham Heritage Railway offering new themed trips this fall
The York-Durham Heritage Railway (YDHR) continues to expand its experience through the addition of new themed trips this fall. These innovative themes allow the historic railway to market to new audiences, while also providing exciting opportunities for existing customers to return for exciting programming. On
October 26 and 27, the Wizards’ Festival will bring the wizarding world to life with interactive shows, potions classes, horcrux maze, magic shows, and workshops on how to defend yourself against the Dark Enemy. Premium ticket holders will hop on the Hallows Express to help the Ministry of Magic determine how to foil the escape of two evil wizards. Costumes are optional.
Then on
November 3, the YDHR partners with the Young and the Restless for a very special event. The legendary Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) will be at YDHR to personally meet each guest. The party continues with a lunch buffet reception in a heated tent, featuring an award-winning executive chef and a live band playing in the background. Then it’s “all aboard” for a lovely one-hour train ride through some beautiful fall scenery.
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Signs, signs, everywhere signs
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Visitors to Uxbridge will feel welcomed, and find it easier to locate attractions and services in the area, thanks to new wayfinding signs installed throughout the township. The signs identify parking areas for trailheads, cultural sites, downtown parking, facilities and services (such as the arena and sports fields) along with shopping and dining options.
The goal of the project is to drive tourist visitation and economic impact by pointing people to key tourism sites and encouraging existing visitors to discover more locations once they are in the municipality. Installation of the signs is expected to be completed before the end of the summer. Some funding for the project was provided by Central Counties Tourism as part of a tourism grant.
Underway since 2017, this project involved a working group of township staff and residents that included representation from the Arts and Visual Enhancement Committee, the Tourism Committee, the Heritage Committee, the Trails Committee and the BIA, among others.
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Several attractions celebrating milestones
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Quite a few Durham Region attractions have celebrated milestone anniversaries this year! These sites mean so much to the community, providing entertainment and enjoyment to many visitors over the years, as well as contributing to the region’s economic growth.
Congratulations to these Durham Tourism stakeholders celebrating important milestones this year:
- Ajax Downs celebrated 50 years of racing last month. The racetrack has had a huge effect on Durham Region and the quarter-horse industry.
- The Regent Theatre is celebrating its centennial this year. This historic landmark was built and opened in 1919.
- Wooden Sticks is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. The course features eight golf holes inspired by famous designs from the PGA Tour.
Let us know if your attraction is celebrating a special anniversary this year!
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International tourism spend in Canada: Q1 2019
Destination Canada publishes data on international tourism spend in Canada by 10 key markets and the rest of the world quarterly. These quarterly highlights use indicators developed by Statistics Canada for the tourism sector, showing spending by international visitors in 20 regions across Canada and in six key tourism spending categories: accommodation, food and beverage, recreation and entertainment, clothing and gifts, transportation and other. Highlights from
Q1 2019 include:
- U.S. visitors indulged in Ontario’s food scene and spent six per cent of their total spend ($117 million) in the Greater Toronto Area and seven per cent ($130 million) in the rest of Ontario.
- Where did international visitors spend their money? Food and beverages accounted for 38 per cent ($1.6 billion) of all their spending, 27 per cent ($1.1 billion) on accommodation, 17 per cent ($721 million) on clothing and gifts, eight per cent ($314 million) on transportation, eight per cent ($314 million) on recreation and entertainment, and one per cent ($59 million) on souvenirs.
- U.S. visitors spent the most of any international visitors, representing 45 per cent ($1.9 billion), China represented 12 per cent ($511 million), while the United Kingdom represented four per cent ($185 million).
- Canada welcomed close to 3.8 million visitors from the United States. Statistics Canada estimates that two million were visitors that stayed one or more nights in Canada.
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Seat Giant Inc.
Seat Giant Inc. has changed the ticketing landscape in Canada, and it all began in Durham Region! Seat Giant is a four-year-old company that was the first secondary ticketing company to offer tickets in Canadian dollars. Canadian owned and operated, Seat Giant Inc. offers tickets throughout North America to every major sporting event and concert in Canadian funds.
SeatGiant.ca has also launched seatgiantevents.ca, where local businesses can list tickets to a variety of events. Seatgiantevents.ca has been the official ticket provider of the Barrie Baycats and Welland Jackfish baseball teams, Cisco, rib fests, concerts, golf tournaments and much more.
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August and September 2019
Keep these upcoming sport events on your radar!
Take advantage of Sport Durham's monthly sport events radar to ensure that your business is prepared to welcome incoming athletes and visitors to Durham Region during key sport events.
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Mosport Kartways Circuit at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Bowmanville. Expected attendance of about 6,000.
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Chevrolet Silverado 250, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Bowmanville. Estimated attendance of 74,000 spectators.
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Individual and team-based competitions based on firefighting tasks performed in emergency situations, Delpark Homes Centre, Oshawa.
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Connect and engage with Durham Tourism and Sport Durham on our social media pages:
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